Railroad-tie



J. K. McGlLL.

RAILROAD TIE.

. APPLICATION FILED AUG-25,1919.

Patented Au 24', 1920.

' awmwboz (fa/7265K Ef -"612% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES. KENT McGILL, or BELLEDEAU, LOUISIANA,

RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 25, 1919. Serial No. 319,657.

Ties, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in railroad ties.

An important object of the invention is to provide a railroad tie which will not creep longitudinally.

WVhere a railroad train travels at high speed at the curves of the track, great pressure is thrown longitudinally upon the ties of the track, causing a tendency of the ties to shift. This is the cause of frequent accidents as the shifting of the tie has a tendency to cause the rails to separate at the joints. Furthermore upon a straight track where the train travels at such speed that it sways this longitudinal shifting of the ties is also in evidence, causing short kinking of the rails with a resultant constant jar of the vehicles passing thereover. Efforts have been made to overcome this tendency to longitudinal shifting of the ties by forming the bottom surface of the tie irregular in contour, that is to say, the bottom of the tie is provided with serrationsp These serrations have, however, beenmade regular in outline and similar in detail. I have found that by forming undulations upon the under side of the tie irregular in contour and size the longitudinal slippage of the tie is greatly reduced.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein like numerals indicate like parts throughout Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad tie embodying my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings the numeral 10 indicates a railroad tie as a whole. v

The bottom 11 of the tie is cut with a band saw or the like in waves of varying lengths, the waves 12 being shorter than the waves 13. Intermediate the waves, the enlarged portions 14 formed give the full thickness of the tie. In practice I prefer to properly space these enlarged portions'and place the rails directly above the enlargements "14.

It will be obvious that by so constructing a wood tie longitudinal slippage will be prevented. The portions of the road bed exending into the waves are of varying thickness thus eliminating a large percentage of the longitudinal shifting of the rail. Were these waves of the same length the rail might have a tendency to shift'a portion ofthe wave length and form a new bed, but as at present constructed, the tie would be firmly held in its seat. 1

As many changes are'possible in the shape of the wave lengths and of the length and arrangement of the same without in any manner departing from the spirit of my invention, I do not limit myself to this specific structure herein shown and described but may make any'such changes without in any manner departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

A railroad tie comprising a unitary struc ture having a longitudinally undulating under surface made up of several waves of slight curvature. of substantially the same depth but of varying length, the crests of the downwardly extending waves being radius than those of the upwardly extending Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

waves andthe crests of two of the down- -wardly extending waves being disposed directly under the portions of the tie to which 7 the rails are secured and such waves extendmg for a substantial dlstanceto each side thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 'DoaA J ACOBSEN, CATHERINE .DOODY. 

